World Cup to bring Light Rail to Canberra ?

[ACT Light Rail]

Light Railers,

I was woken early this morning by 2CC and interviewed by Mark Parton
regarding this curious story in todays Canberra Times (see below). I
purchased the hardcopy version, but there wasn't anything more on LR
than on the web version.

First off, any push for light rail should be supported, but I have
concerns if the light rail they (the World Cup bid boosters) propose
goes from say Civic to Bruce Stadium. How this serves anyones needs,
Im not sure. For light rail to serve the ACT effectively it needs to
follow the rapid transit routes the ACT Government have identified as
part of the Sustainable Transport Action Plan. If a branch to
Belconnen services Bruce Stadium, thats a great benefit, but Im not
sure its on the Rapid Transit routes identified.

However, any good light rail news is welcomed, i'd just like some more
detail. Im not convinced that the federal govt is just going to hand
out several hundred million for a light rail and the world cup bid.
its all a bit confusing. Its also sad if the ACT govt want to spend
100 million on a sports ground when thats about half the cost of a
light rail route from Civic to Gungahlin.

Im going to make some phone calls and follow up on this, attend the
next meeting and I will provide an update.

regards

Damien Haas

Chair, AT Light Rail


Cup win may bring light rail to city
DAVID MCLENNAN
13 Jul, 2010 12:00 AM

Canberra will be a significant beneficiary of a successful Australian
soccer World Cup finals bid, which could also help the city get a
light rail network.

The Football Federation of Australia believes its bid to host the 2022
World Cup received an enormous boost from the success of Sydney's Fan
Fest event, which about 500,000 people attended over the four weeks
despite the late kick-off times and cold weather.

The host country will be announced in December.

IBIS World yesterday published research that found holding a World Cup
in Australia would inject $35.56billion into the national economy if
it was held in 2022.

This would ''dwarf the estimated $9.1billion (in real terms) of
spending that the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games generated'', mainly
because of the larger audiences.

Three-quarters of the spending, or about $26.8billion, would be on
construction, including enhancing transport links and communication
networks, and new and upgraded stadiums.

Senior analyst Michael Wilson said Canberra would be a significant
beneficiary of this, because it was getting a new stadium.

''Canberra is definitely going to benefit and get a piece of world-
class sporting infrastructure that will have ongoing benefits,'' he
said.

The Football Federation of Australia has already revealed Canberra one
of 10 proposed host cities would get a $270million stadium.

The rectangular stadium would be built next door to Canberra Stadium
at the Australian Institute of Sport.

It would have an initial capacity of 40,000, but temporary seating
would be removed later to reduce the size to 27,000 for the longer
term.

The ACT Government is expected to contribute $100 million of the cost,
and the Commonwealth the other $170 million.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times